I’ve been using a pair of downright excellent TYLT charging products for months — the ENERGI 5K+ Battery Pack and the ENERGI Sliding Power Case for iPhone 5/5s — and I’ve been pleased with the simple-yet-innovative design and functionality. The TYLT ENERGI 2K Travel Charger is the latest TYLT product to reach my desk, and more importantly, the latest to earn a spot in my travel kit.
The TYLT ENERGI 2K Travel Charger is a USB-based wall charger with fold out prongs. It’s about the size of four of Apple’s tiny little USB chargers, but it has a cool extra feature: a built-in battery. This means that you can plug it into your hotel room wall socket, charge your iPhone, and then when you get stuck in the airport, you have a blast of 2200mAh battery-based energy waiting to add some juice to your iPhone — or any smartphone or similar device.
With this travel charger, you don’t have to score a position near a wall socket in the airport, and that alone makes the size worth the space in your travel bag. Of course, having the battery pack also means you can give yourself a battery boost on the beach, in the mountains, or on a plane.
How the TYLT ENERGI 2K Travel Charger Works
Basically, you plug it into a wall socket, plug a separate USB Lightning cable (or the cable for a different device) to the USB port and start charging. The charger will recognize a connected device and first deliver a charge to the device, and when the device is full, start charging the built-in battery.
To use the battery, you simply press the power button to start charging. To check the battery’s capacity, press the power button. If it glows green, the battery is 80-to-100% charged. Amber, 30-to-80% charged. Red, less than 30% charged.
It’s super simple.
As for charge times, it can deliver about a 50% iPhone charge in an hour. As for total capacity when fully charged, it will nearly replenish a spent iPhone. The current is 1 amp, and the battery cells have been tested and certified to the following standards: CTIA IEEE 1725, UL 1642, UN 38.3.
TYLT produces charging and connectivity accessories in bright, bold colors, and this travel charger is no exception: It comes in Black, Green, Blue, or Red. It costs around $39.99, and makes a great gift for travelers or on-the-go teenagers.
